The Cost of Renting a Food Truck for A Party

Well, like thousands of other people these days, you are probably checking the latest trendy options of having Food Truck catering at your event. Food trucks and carts have definitely become wildly popular across the U.S, and especially in New York City. That’s basically the reason why we created NewYorkStreetFood.com back in 2009. And now, catering companies all over the country are offering awesomely designed food trucks staffed with kitchen crews that serve delicious cuisines for both public and private events, from house parties, corporate events and up to exclusive weddings.

However, when it comes to food truck events – most customers are especially curious about the savings involved (compared to normal catering) and the bottomline cost of renting a Food Truck for their special party. Well, we will try our best to answer some of the basic questions regarding the price to rent a food truck.

First off, if you go and check the national statistics, you’ll see that the nationwide average per-guest cost for wedding catering is $68. If you hire a food truck, you can probably cut that cost to $20-$25 per guest. So if you host 168 people at your wedding (that’s the current national average), renting a food truck would cost you around $3,360-$4,200, compared with $11,424 for normal wedding catering.

So how much does a food truck cost for a wedding in New York city? Is it $3,360 or $4,200? Or somewhere in the middle? Well, it’s not that simple. Prices vary widely between different food trucks. For example, a super tasty ice cream truck will be less expensive than a cool Pizza truck, and a pizza truck will usually be less costly than a Lobster or BBQ truck. On top of that, there are plenty of other technical factors that determine the cost of renting a food truck for a party. We’ll try our best to explain this in a bit more detail…

A cool Pizza Truck is more expensive than an ice cream? Photo by Emran Kassim / Pizza LA

The price to rent a food truck will always depend on the very basic factors such as the number of guests, the food being served, and the number of hours the food truck will be open for orders.

However, the cost of renting a food truck for a party also depends on the numbers of staffers you ask for (some clients want more staff while others are ok with less). A major factor is also the extras that you request for, such as special beverages or desserts. For example, most food truck caterers will include nonalcoholic beverages for a cost of $2-$3 per person (on top), while alcoholic beverages will naturally cost more. If you opt for a bartended then that’s another extra…

Aside from the “extras” factor, you should pay attention to other factors that affect the total cost of renting a food truck for a party, which are not always related to the food truck caterer. These include venue factors – like where will your food truck park? You might need to rent out additional space for that. And what about seating? Will you favor your guests standing and eating or will you set up tables and chairs for them?

There’s no doubt that renting a food truck for your wedding or special event will likely cost you much less than a full-service catering company, but don’t expect rock bottom prices. Remember that many food trucks these days offer very high-quality menus, designed by highly experienced chefs, so you really don’t want it to be that cheap…J

So, if you’re 100% sure you want to go for Food Truck catering for your event or party – shoot us an email or fill up the contact form here! We outperform and create the best Food Truck parties in town…Our team will answer any other questions you have and we’ll be glad to Food-Truck-cater your event!

If you’ve already booked your Food Truck catering guys – all we can do is wish you lots of fun and happiness on your special event!

On a different note…a FOOD TRAVEL TIP

If it’s your first time to New York city, and you’ve never really seen or tasted our cool Food trucks before – you’ll surely be thrilled each time you try a new one. However, when touring NYC for the very first time, you should definitely try a food vendor that’s been a crucial part of the NY landscape long before the food trucks became so popular…

FOOD CARTS

That’s right. Food Carts are everywhere ! Compared to Food Trucks – the carts park on the sidewalk, not on the street. They usually don’t have a fancy name or awesome branding, but their food is as good as most of the food trucks.

You can find food carts from all sorts and tastes all over New York city. So don’t forget to try one or two, or more !

Fallon Chan is a food and lifestyle photographer and blogger. In addition to New York Street Food, you can find her work published on her blog, Digitally Delectable. Our bloggers are not compensated for their posts. If you would like to express your "thanks" or "tip" Ms. Chan for this entry, you can do so by making a purchase at Amazon (by clicking the link) where she will earn a referral fee.

FOOD CARTS

Today's Lunch is escovitch chicken from the Jamaican Dutchy cart, a 2009 Vendy Award finalist. The cart is located on the northeast corner of West 51st St and 7th Ave, and escovitch chicken is their Friday special.
My first thought was, this is a BIG lunch. It cost $9, but can easily be shared by 2 people with normal appetites.
There...